Regional NRM Strategy

Remnant Bushland

Remnant Bushland

Land clearing, primarily for agriculture, has arguably had the greatest impact on species viability in the Wheatbelt region. Around 60 % of the native vegetation of the Avon River Basin has been cleared since European settlement and an average of ~2500 hectares have been approved for clearing per year since 2010. Data Source: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

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Land clearing, primarily for agriculture, has arguably had the greatest impact on species viability in the Wheatbelt region. Around 60 % of the native vegetation of the Avon River Basin has been cleared since European settlement (Department of Agriculture and Food) and an average of ~2500 hectares have been approved for clearing per year since 2010 (Department of Environmental Regulation). The extent and composition of our native vegetation can also be variously affected by fire, secondary salinity and climate change. As we collate data will we be increasingly able to comment on whether the area of perennial vegetation cover is increasing or decreasing across the region.

Based on the latest remnant vegetation mapping by the Department of Agriculture and Food, we can see that with the exception of the Great Western Woodlands which are virtually uncleared, every sub-region of the Wheatbelt NRM region falls well below the threshold of 30% land cover. This threshold has been identified in the literature on biodiversity conservation below which species numbers rapidly decline. Our challenge is to manage the region to improve species viability by increasing perennial landcover to exceed this threshold. About 34% of our remaining native vegetation is protected in crown reserves and under freehold covenants and non-binding agreements while revegetation efforts on freehold land continues. In these ways we can protect, enhance, enlarge and connect our remaining bushland.

Reserves

Current status (2017)

Change

These data show the 2017 area of remnant vegetation across the whole Avon River Basin that is protected under three categories; 1. Crown Reserve; 2. Conservation or carbon covenants (these are parcels of vegetation on free-hold land that are protected under a legally binding agreement between the landholder and an authorised body/covenant scheme provider such as DBCA or DPIRD); 3. Non-binding conservation covenants (these are parcels of vegetation on free-hold land that are protected through a non-binding agreements between the landholder and another party that facilitates the preservation of the land such as DBCA or the Humane Society).

Disclaimers: Every effort has been made to collate a comprehensive list of organisations who contribute to revegetation in the region however; these data are likely to be an underestimate of the actual revegetation efforts during any given year. The area of revegetation is calculated from real values supplied by various organisations but does not included private (unsupported) landholder revegetation efforts nor does it give an indication of revegetation success.

Climate Change

Current status (2017)

The average climate anomaly (i.e. how far the annual mean deviates from the long-term mean of 1961-1990) across the Avon River Basin calculated from sites in the Bureau of Metrology’s climate change site network.

Data source: Bureau of Meteorology

Disclaimers: Average annual rainfall and maximum temperature isolines have been simplified.